


Inspo

by NarutoDays (DAYS8)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Music, Alternate Universe - Theater, Based on a Tumblr Post, F/M, Fluff, Romance, simple love story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-14
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2020-05-07 20:44:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19217200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DAYS8/pseuds/NarutoDays
Summary: Naruto, a skilled theater technician, and Hinata, a breakout pianist and composer, smile at each other.Based on shamyliciouss's naruhina doujinshi (pub. May 31, 2019).





	1. Unexpected

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Hinata as a newby pianist and Naruto as one of those backstage guys](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/579823) by shamylicious. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been edited from its original Tumblr posting.  
> Please check out shamy's 5-panel illustration at the link above!
> 
> Enjoy the NaruHina :)

Naruto had always liked being the center of attention.  

As a small kid, he enjoyed making others laugh (sometimes disruptively, but what kid isn’t a little rascal?).  His dream job was a comedian, and when the chance arose to formally get up on the stage in high school, he went for it.  He joined drama class!

Little did he realize, he had absolutely no talent for acting…dancing…singing…anything really.  

His uncoordinated movements and awkwardly delivered lines really seemed meant for comedy, as if everything he did was tongue-in-cheek, even when he tried his best.  He laughed it off, but it was disheartening to find out that drama wasn’t what he thought it was going to be.  Improv was great fun.  Everything else…not so much.  But it was too late to switch classes.

So the drama teacher assigned him to stage handing.  At first it was sets and props.  He was one of those guys dressed in all black who had to skitter across the stage unseen between acts and it kinda really sucked for him.  

At one rehearsal, during a break, he was so bored, he snuck behind the tech and started fooling around with the switches and buttons just to see what they would do.  He wasn’t afraid of breaking it, like how can you break something by just turning things on and off and sliding things around.

Well, he got caught.  And he might’ve needed to serve detention.

On the plus side, after that show, the teacher gave him the chance to start learning lights and sound with the older students.  He had a natural instinct when it came to understanding the feeling the act was trying to convey and determining the lights to push that mood forward in a visual, almost tangible, way.  

Lights and sound turned out to be a real skill.  Friends would watch him work and just stare at him with an expression of ‘how does he know what to do with all that stuff.’  He liked to explain the controls and the applications on the computer to them as technically as possible while acting as if he was dumbing it down (“well this is just a basic RGB console, so I just have to apply the Additive Color Theory.  It’s simple, really”), just to make himself sound that much more impressive.

He was soon asked to help with school events, music performances, dances…just plugging all the wires in earned him admiring comments.  

He found the attention he had originally been seeking in a much different vein.  It was ironic in a way he appreciated, considering that he was never in the spotlight.  He always thought drama would be about standing out and expressing the individual.  He realized he had a passion for the other side of that.  Working with a team to, really, control the emotions of the audience, to dig deeper into drawing out the will of the actor.  There was a kind of power in being behind-the-scenes that he hadn’t expected, and it was a shared understanding all the backstage guys held.  

From high school to volunteer and part-time work as a Casual, and all through college, he worked with and befriended numerous different artists.  Each had their own unique vision, and he got to play a part in bringing that to life for the artist and the audience.

The connections he made through it all served him well.  The Historic Konoha Theatre had an opening on their tech team.  He applied.  He was hired, even with how young he was.

The first show he worked was for a famous comedian by the name of Jiraiya.  He was more than a little starstruck to meet the King of Laughs in person.

But not all of the shows are established artists.  The Konoha Theatre has numerous different types of events.  Due to its more intimate architecture than the Konoha City Concert Hall, many up-and-coming artists choose HKT for their concerts.

And Naruto found he likes working with these younger artists more.  In creating a memorable performance with these artists, he feels like he has greater impact on their careers, like he might really be making a difference for them in helping them achieve their dreams.  

He’s been feeling this way especially with their current preparation with a young pianist, perhaps the youngest solo performer he's worked with yet at HKT.  She seems only a little younger than he is, practically fresh out of college.  But despite the media attention she seems to have been getting for the past handful of years, the girl seems uncharacteristically shy, from her cautious expression to her modest attire.

“Hinata, did you have any specific lighting in mind for your concert?” he asks during their first scheduled meeting.  He scans her setlist, recalling the songs from her online profile.  He wasn’t familiar with her before, but he did his research.  He recognizes that half of the songs on the list are from her work for the season’s hit drama.  “Or did you plan on projecting any scenes from the drama during the concert?”

“Oh, no,” she quietly begins.  “I wasn’t thinking of anything fancy, just…something regular?”  Her voice turns up at the end, suggesting that she doesn’t have any idea of what “regular” might mean.

“Okay.”  He nods.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know anything really about the lighting,” she adds quickly.

“No need to apologize.”  He smiles.  “I’ll show you some options, and we can go with what you feel comfortable with.”

Her expression immediately clears.  “I’d like that, thank you…”

“No problem.”  He shows her the common ways, from under-lighting to increasing the diameter of the spotlight, and the use of colors to help convey feeling.  He encourages her to consider a blue tint on the backlight for her moodier songs from the drama.  “It would be subtle.  It wouldn’t take away from your playing,” he assures her.

She pinches her lips together, obviously uncertain.

“Why don’t you get up there on the stage and see how it feels?  I’ll play one of your songs…how about...‘you and the stars’...from the speakers?  You can sorta get an idea.”

She nods, and as she makes her way up toward the stage, he finds her song and begins to play it.  Her piano music fills the house.

He watches her turn this way and that at the center of the stage, one moment looking thoughtfully at the backlight, the next moment staring out toward all of the seats.  At one point she stares blankly toward the wings, probably picturing the grand piano there or imagining herself playing it.  When he realizes she might be out there for the entire song, he sits back to relax and just listen.

He’s constantly amazed by the talent he meets.  It’s no different today, but composers are a different brand from musicians, dancers, actors, and even choreographers.  Perhaps even lyricists.  He wonders again, just as he had when he first took a listen to her music, what exactly inspired the sounds she somehow strung together.  

This song he chose in particular stands out.  It’s one of her hits from the drama, which he still needs to actually watch...he plans on marathoning it tonight...but this one in particular makes him think about his mother.  He wonders if the song relates at all to the death of a loved one in the drama.

Eventually, she makes her way back to the board.  She still wears a thoughtful expression.

“Whatdja think,” he asks.

“It’s nice...but if I use color for this song, then I should probably use colors for all of the songs, right?”

He smiles and shakes his head.  “Not necessarily.  For some of the songs, we can use just a spotlight.  That might be effective if you’d like the audience to focus more on you, your technique, or prowess.  For your songs that are more emotional or for the ones you’d like your audience to be looking more inward at themselves...more reflectively, then color on the backlight would be effective.”

She nods slowly, and he lets her process.  Finally, she looks directly at him.  “Okay.”

He looks back at her, at her somehow determined yet simultaneously blank expression.   _Ah, maybe she doesn’t know where to start._  He leans forward and pushes the setlist in front of her.  “Why did you choose this order?  Tell me your thought process and we can go from there.”

She takes a deep breath, as if she’s getting ready for something really challenging.  “Okay,” she repeats with an expression of complete focus, and he wishes he had someone on the team to witness this with him.  “This” being, her.  She comes off as being overly serious, understandably so with it being her first solo concert, but it’s kind of funny and adorable.  

Yet as she walks him through the setlist, she very eloquently explains the journey she hopes to take her audience through.  There are times when she blushes as she shares her personal feelings about a song, and there are times when her eyes light up when he smiles at her in acknowledgement of her ideas.  He comes to learn that many of her songs were inspired by people she’s been with or seen, even just once, or places she’s been to, from foreign cities to nature walks, hinting at perhaps a more extroverted personality than one would expect.  She shares quietly and unrushed, as if she’s telling him secrets.  It’s definitely charming.

He can tell as he helps her decide her lighting design that she’s much calmer now.  They can both see the show coming together, which very apparently relieves her stress.  She voices her opinion more readily, and her smiles come easier, shining whenever he shows her a lighting that fits her developing vision.  It’s one of those moments that make him feel fulfilled in this profession.

He finishes the last of the notes on her concert and turns the laptop to show her.  “Alright, this is the plan!  I’ll share this with the team.”

“Thank you,” she softly replies, but her bright smile shows her excitement.

It’s a pretty smile.  

“Yeah, it’s going to look great!  We’ll see you at the rehearsal on Friday.”

She hums her affirmation as she gathers her things, and he notes how she’s still smiling in her quiet way.  Then, how her gaze flits back to his, and how her smile turns even sweeter.

It has him wondering at the meaning behind her looks, and if they’re meant to make him feel like they’re especially for him, meant to make him feel good, and if...maybe she...

“Uh actually- Hinata..me and a couple of others from the team were gonna go grab lunch soon.  Would you wanna join us?”

“Oh!...Um, I wouldn’t be intruding?”

“Not at all!”  He stands to walk out with her.  

“Okay, then.”  She smiles shyly once more, looking up at him, and he grins, happy that she seems happy.

Yet even through the reassuring expression he gives her, he wonders at her reactions, her expressions, looking to see if any are maybe meant just for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check out shamy's 5-panel illustration at shamyliciouss.tumblr.com or at the link in the top note and give it a heart/reblog/comment!  
> Follow her for more beautiful naruto and other fandom art.
> 
> Thank you for reading :)


	2. Resting Face

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on shamy's doujinshi "Hinata as a newby pianist and Naruto as one of those backstage guys" posted on Tumblr May 31, 2019.  
> See it here- https://shamyliciouss.tumblr.com/post/185267904721/hinata-as-a-newby-pianist-and-naruto-as-one-of
> 
>  
> 
> This chapter has been edited from its original Tumblr posting.
> 
> Please enjoy the NaruHina!

Hinata used to think she was just like everyone else.  When she was barely three, she was already taking piano lessons, much like all of her preschool friends.  Everyone took piano classes.  It was just as normal as taking a nap after lunch.  (Later she would come to learn that it’s only normal for rich kids to all take piano lessons).

She didn’t love it.  She didn’t hate it.  It was frustrating at times, but quitting never crossed her mind.  

When her friends started to quit piano lessons and take up other, more fashionable activities, like ballet and soccer, her family unexpectedly up and moved to a new country for her father’s job as a news reporter.  For life to go on as cohesively as possible, her father bought them a new piano, she was enrolled in private lessons again, and she diligently continued to play as she had before.

But life was far from familiar.  She didn’t understand what people were saying, she hardly understood what the school teacher wanted her to do, and everything--the food, the trees, the water, the tv shows--was different.

She clammed up.  She could go a whole day without hearing her own voice.

For awhile, the only thing she felt she could do successfully was play the piano.  

So that’s all she did.  

She practiced a lot.  As soon as she came home from school, wrote random lettering on her reading homework, and carefully completed her math homework, she jumped on the piano bench to practice her lesson.  

But when she had done her scales and songs over and over and over and over and over...she had nothing else to do.  

Then one day, she got an old song from home stuck in her head.  It had been the popular tune that all of her friends used to sing at recess.  

She spent hours trying to figure out the correct notes on the piano.  And slowly but surely, she created a simple melody for it.

It became a hobby of hers.  Simple melodies on her right hand quickly developed into two-handed pieces.  A year later, around the time she turned nine, she started trying to add chords to her songs.

Her skill didn’t go unnoticed.  She advanced through her exercise books on her own, showing up to lessons over-prepared.  Her long hours of practice and play helped her to quickly learn several bars of music within one lesson, forcing her teacher to supply her with more difficult songs.

Then her piano teacher recommended her for a competition.  “She has such a good ear,” the teacher told her father.

Hinata didn’t really know what that meant, but she did know that she was so extremely nervous, she thought she was going to faint.  

Until she heard everyone else play.

She won easily in her age category.

Her father said he wasn’t surprised at all, with all the hours she practiced.  

That recognition alone from her busy, busy father encouraged her more than the trophy.  And at school, she was finally starting to understand what everyone was saying.  She began listening to the radio to learn local songs to play on the piano.  It developed her vocabulary and gave her a way to relate to her classmates.

By the time she entered Intermediate School, she could make friends, even if she was still shy.  Music became her key to social and personal success.  She would figure out how to play songs her friends requested.  Then she started trying to compose her own short pieces as gifts for her friends.

She was growing in confidence and identity.

Then they moved back to Fire Country.

It wasn’t nearly as difficult a move as the first time.  She at least knew the language, and they had gone on several trips over the years to visit relatives, so nothing was really unfamiliar.  Adjusting to the school culture took a little time, but she quickly figured things out.  Friends came much more easily since people were interested in her experience living abroad.

What she wasn’t expecting was...piano drama.  

She entered competitions, just as she had been before, and that’s when it started.  The sudden appearance of a new “prodigy” amongst a group of piano students who had been competing against each other for years was startling, to say the least.  Her win was such an upset, she got interviewed for the newspaper.  Taking advantage of the attention, her school featured her with the symphonic orchestra as an accompanist at school concerts.  She was invited to play with the school’s choir, too.

Students at her school who were in the competition gave her ugly looks and talked bad about her behind her back.  They criticized her playing style, spread rumors that she wins due to her money, background, or her father’s name recognition, or said she was stuck-up.

She tried to talk less, dress plainly, speak politely, or ignore it.  They just called her socially awkward, weird.

She did competitions for another year, until she just...couldn’t.  

She didn’t want to do it anymore.  She was tired of the attention, the good and the bad.  

In her last year of high school, she asked her piano teacher to let her focus on composition, where her real passion lies.  Thankfully, her piano teacher was receptive.  Kurenai helped her record her songs and release them online for public download.  Her teacher used her connections to get Hinata’s profile some attention, and she became known as an artistic youth to keep an eye on.

Through college, she developed her composing skill.  She studied the other instruments, their key changes, and their unique qualities, and began composing chamber music, which opened up an entirely new range of sound she hadn’t had the chance to explore before.  With friends in her music major, they collaborated on and played original songs at student-run concerts.

It was fun and new, but she didn’t experience the same success as when she won competitions.  She knew focusing on technical composition wouldn’t be the same, but she had no way of rating herself against others.  Working beside so many other musical talents who excelled in their instruments, who planned on entering professional orchestras and had a straightforward path after college, gave her anxiety about her future as a pianist and composer.

So she decided to take a break.  To find her passion again.  To not associate piano with winning or losing.  

She studied abroad.  She traveled.  She saw new landscapes, heard new languages, ate new foods, and surrounded herself with new people, just as she had been when she first found sanctuary in music.  

She didn’t touch a piano unless she had a stroke of inspiration.  Sometimes it was a particularly gnarled tree she happened to pass on a bus ride, the sound of a person’s laughter in an outdoor market, or vibrant wall art on a building’s surface.  At other times, she felt the sounds develop over weeks, through repeated interactions with a classmate or watching the movement of customers in her favorite cafe.  Those were her favorites.  She would record it, upload it to her profile, and force herself to be too busy to check the number of hits.

When she finally returned home after her year abroad, she still didn’t want to check her profile’s notifications.  She was too busy anyway with her senior portfolio, which she decided to dedicate around her literal and figurative journey as an artist through her formative years.  She was proud of her work, albeit still nervous about her next steps.

Then Kurenai asked her to come over.  

She informed Hinata that she had been contacted about an opportunity to have her ex-student compose tracks for a dramatization of a popular teen romance novel.  According to the producer of the drama, Hinata’s music ‘carries a nostalgia for beauty, a youthful eye at the fragility of time and age.’

Well, it sounded a little pretentious for what Hinata had actually been trying to get at with her music.  But, she agreed just on the relief alone, understanding that she may never get a chance like this again, and that it would at least delay her worries for a while.

When the drama was released last year, it became the hit show of the season.  It garnered her profile attention, and requests began to come in for her sheet music.  Before she could really realize it, she found herself experiencing a type of success she hadn’t felt before.  

_Other pianists_ were playing her songs!

Now she has young learners of the piano who write to her, calling themselves her “fans” who love her style, who eagerly await her new compositions, who would actually pay to see her perform.

And that’s how she’s found herself in this uncomfortable position.  

Holding her own concert.  

And despite the many times she’s been on stage, she’s never once had to interact with the tech crew.  They were just these mysterious entities who walked around the theatre looking all official and intimidating with their headsets, microphone pieces, and control panels.  

Well, she’s easily intimidated by strangers.  She knows that it’s likely due to her high school experience.  It doesn’t make being naturally anxious any easier.

“You must be Hinata Hyuga?”  A blond man who looks just about her age notices her standing awkwardly to the side.

She nods.  “Hello.”  Why does everything she say sound uncertain?

He closes his laptop and walks up to her.  “I’m Naruto.”  He holds out his hand, which she shakes, hoping her grip was firm enough to not feel wimpy.  “I’m going to be the point person for your concert.”

She nods again.

He grins at her then, for reasons quite unknown to her.  It’s a really nice smile, though, and she smiles a little in return.  “I’ll take you over to meet the rest of the crew?”

“Okay.  Thank you.”

“Yeah, of course!”

He and everyone else are a lot friendlier than she would have expected.  Less business-y.  Certainly a team.

She learns that it’s Naruto’s first time leading, apparently an effort by his seniors to build capacity within the crew.  The thought is somewhat comforting that she’s not the only one doing something new.

“Why you gotta tell her that!” he complains comically.  

His senior just laughs.  “There’s no need to worry.  Naruto’s good at his job, and we’ll all be there to support you.”

The camaraderie among the crew is palpable.  “Thank you..” she replies simply.

Naruto smiles brightly.

She decides that he really has a nice smile, and she can’t help thinking about it throughout their meeting.

After all, he smiles often.  He smiles so widely, his cheeks bunch up to his cerulean eyes.  She doesn’t know if she’s ever seen anyone smile as much as he does, which is saying a lot because she’s met many people.  She wonders if he does it on purpose.  He seems confident enough to know that he has a great smile, but he also seems just genuinely that cheerful.

And that smile of his makes her feel a little less worried about her concert.  If he’s not worried, then she needn’t worry, either, right?

So she focuses as best she can on her task.  Earlier, Kurenai explained that a solo concert is different from a school performance.  She has to keep the audience entertained on her own, that she’ll have the entire theatre _all_ to herself.

It’s really the knowledge of Naruto’s cheer and encouraging smile that keep her from crumpling inward like an origami fan when she gets up on the stage.  She ends up standing there for too long, mentally hyping herself up, then calming herself down, then refocusing on the lighting situation.

Without fail, his smile greets her when she returns to him as the song finishes.   

When they’re halfway through designing the lighting for her setlist, he turns another shining grin at her.  “See?  This isn’t so confusing, is it?”

She nods in agreement.

“You seemed so worried earlier,” he chuckles.

“Oh, it’s just that it’s the first time I’m doing something like this, so…”  She turns away, tucking her hair behind her ear.  She didn’t realize her nervousness was so obvious to him.

“Hm, yeah, but you’ve won a ton of competitions before.  Concerts aren’t like competitions, right?  I don’t like working competitions.  I can literally feel everyone’s tension in the air.”  He holds his hands up in stress as if he’s holding something heavy.

She stares at him, realizing that this cute guy must have looked her up online beyond just her songs.  Her basic profile doesn’t talk about her past.  The thought automatically triggers her blush.

He goes on, “If you can handle that, then you’ll be fine this Saturday.  Concerts are fun!”

She nods through her embarrassment, understanding that he only did it for his work as her point person.  “Yes, I think it will be fun.”

“Yup!” he replies cheerfully.  “So don’t worry.  Me and the crew will all be there for you, too.  You’re not alone,” he repeats, an echo of his senior’s sentiments, but his words somehow sound even more sincere.

It dawns on her that he’s been trying to help her relax this whole time.  She bites her lips and turns a small smile at him.

Of course, he smiles back brightly.  “Alright, let’s talk about ‘Too Fast to Hide.’  You said it’s a very technical piece, so we could go a couple of different ways with this…”

A steady warmth of assurance wraps her up, and she relaxes more, happy to go along with his mood.  He definitely seems to have fun in his job, and she wants to enjoy this process as much as he is.

His enthusiasm makes it easy for her to forget her nervousness.  His charm makes it even easier.  She can’t help admiring his good nature, his happy demeanor, and by the end of their meeting, she somehow finds herself feeling incredibly prepared for her concert.  She can imagine the entire event, a miracle that’s all thanks to him.

She’s already wondering what little gifts would be acceptable for her to give to the tech crew members, especially for Naruto, to show her appreciation.  Saturday will come quickly, and it will likely be over just as quickly, which was something she was counting on...

But now she thinks she wouldn’t mind getting the chance to have another concert if she gets to meet and work with people like Naruto.   

She peeks at him beside her as she picks up her purse, to see him watching her...with his ‘resting smiling face.’  

_What would he think if I told him he has a nice smile?_

She imagines he’d just smile wider, and the thought makes her want to laugh.  She doesn’t, of course, since that would be rude, and he definitely doesn’t deserve that.  Not with how thoughtful he is, like inviting her to eat lunch with his team.

To which she maybe too easily agrees, but she thinks she wouldn’t mind spending more time with his team (and him).  

She can practically hear it, the way his expression brightens upon interrupting the other members’ work, how warm it is when he informs them that she’s coming, too.  The downtown foot traffic a lively accompaniment as they make their way past other historic buildings, finally arriving at a nearby food truck.  His sigh of absolute, dramatic relief when he opens his take-out.

And she knows what token of appreciation to give him when she gets home, sits down at her piano, and lets her inspiration run free through her fingers, the memory of him brightly filling the air around her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading :D


	3. Better than J-dramas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on shamy's doujinshi "Hinata as a newby pianist and Naruto as one of those backstage guys" posted on Tumblr May 31, 2019.  
> See it here- https://shamyliciouss.tumblr.com/post/185267904721/hinata-as-a-newby-pianist-and-naruto-as-one-of
> 
> Please enjoy the NaruHina :D

_She was looking at me a lot, right?_

He slumps down into his couch at home, pondering the girl he just met.  

It could just be that she was shy, knew him the best, and so she felt more comfortable turning to him during their lunch break.  

Or, it could be his imagination, his ego, talking.  But he doesn’t want to be one of _those_ guys, who thinks that every time a girl smiles at him, that means she’s into him.

Or…

He tilts his head in thought.  _Maybe she liked me a little?_  

True, they just met, but he’s a pretty attractive guy, right?  He knows he’s not ugly, maybe not a 10, but not like a 3, either.  He works out regularly, and in his own, awesome opinion, he thinks he’s pretty nice.

_Would I like that?_   

If she is interested in him?

He wouldn’t mind it…

She was rather pretty.  She had a nice face and nice skin.  Nice, interesting eyes.  Nice hair.  Nice voice.  She was a nice girl.  Cute.

Not very fashionable, with her long skirt and sweater layered over another sweater, but maybe that just means she’s not high maintenance (unlike his semi-serious, acting-major ex Shion from sophomore year). 

It’s not like he’s really fashionable, either.

He recalls her quiet smiles and determined expressions.  _Yeah, she was cute_.  She definitely seemed sorta innocent, which is a quality he doesn’t see too often in girls his age anymore.  That seems to really up her appeal to him in ways he doesn’t want to self-examine.    

_Wonder if she has a boyfriend._   

He remembers everything she told him and the things he learned about her online.  He knows she doesn’t have any social media accounts, or they at least don’t pop up on search engines.  And nothing she said hinted at a special someone.

She did talk about a few friends.  

He frowns at the extent of his contemplation.  _I should just ask her out!_   It wouldn’t be a big deal because if she says no, he’d probably never see her again after the concert, unless she has another concert, but it’s whatever.  

He’s old enough to ask people out casually, isn’t he?  

It’s just not something he’s ever really done.  With his “free” time in college spent in various theatres around town part-timing, building his network, or watching other shows to learn new design ideas, he doesn’t exactly have a strong dating history.  Usually Sakura makes it her personal mission to hook him up with someone, but it’d be nice to not wait for her to find him his next maybe-we’re-together-but-maybe-we’re-just-seeing-each-other fling that inevitably ends because the girl can’t handle his fluctuating work schedule (Monday and Tuesday or Thursday off, work some weekday nights and every weekend).  

Imagine if he told her he started dating someone without her help!  Hah!  He’s not a helpless case after all!

Anyway, it’s not a big deal.        

He can do it.

And, if he doesn’t start now, Sakura will run out of willing friends eventually, and he’ll have to start signing up for those dating apps and “sliding” into random people’s DMs, and, well, he’d rather not?

_Yeah, yeah, I’ll ask her out for coffee or something._

With that matter settled and tucked away for later, he grabs the remote, turns on the streaming app, and navigates the site to the drama.  It’s only 13 episodes long, one hour each. He can definitely marathon it, especially since he doesn’t have to go in for work in the morning.

He’s halfway through the first episode when his flatmate, his best friend, walks in.  “Oh, you’re watching _Picture Tomorrow_.”  

Naruto turns to hear Sasuke dumping his stuff in the kitchen.  “Yeah, did you watch this?”

“Sakura made me.”

Figures.  Naruto turns back to the show.

“You’re not going to like it.”

“I’m not?”

“Well, of course not since the girl dies at the end.”

Naruto turns furiously to see him standing there indifferently.  He throws his hands up.  “Sasuke!”

“What.  You didn’t know that?  How could you not know that?”

“Well, I didn’t!”

“Oh.”  Sasuke retreats back to the kitchen.

With the end spoiled, Naruto continues the show with less enthusiasm than before.  He watches the love interest gaze at the simpleminded heroine curiously.   _She’s gonna die!  Don’t fall in love with her!_   He sighs as he realizes every single moment watching this drama will now be colored with those thoughts.  “Did _you_ like it?” he questions loud enough for Sasuke to hear over the sound of the sink’s running water.

“...”

Naruto watches Sasuke silently deliberating across the serving counter.  If he hated it, he would have said so already.  “So it’s a good show, then?”

“It’s interesting.”

That’s pretty much Sasuke-speak for ‘it’s great.’  “I’m gonna marathon the whole thing tonight.  You wanna join?”

Sasuke grimaces at him.  

But a couple minutes later, after he microwaves some leftovers, he joins him on the couch.

“Oh, this is one of her songs,” Naruto comments aloud as the episode flashes a few sponsors before a commercial break.

Sasuke turns to look at him.

“Hinata, the pianist.  She’s having a concert at HKT this Saturday, and I’m her point person,” he explains.

Sasuke silently nods.

Throughout the drama, he vocally notices her songs.  “This is her song, too...think this one’s called ‘Finally Arrived.’”  He mentally considers that the music sounds different from her online profile, like with other instruments added, and he doesn’t doubt that she composed the music for them, too.  “Gee, she’s really talented.”  

“Hn.”

Eventually Sasuke leaves him alone, and it’s a good thing because when the heroine tells her love interest her diagnosis, but they start dating anyway, Naruto finds himself tearing up.  

By morning, he’s got a permanent frown on his face when she tells him she wants to break up with him, while keeping her terminally ill prognosis secret.

Sasuke comes out, readying for work.

“Sasukeeee...why…” he exhaustedly whines.  

“I told you you wouldn’t like it.”

“No, no, I like it...I think…”

“Are there still tickets for her concert?”

“Wha?  Oh, I dunno...probably…ugh I hate this show...I mean I don’t hate it…”

“Stupid.”

“Noo, this is _your_ fault.”

“Later.”  The door clicks shut, and Naruto is left alone to wallow in his misery.

Sasuke doesn’t come back that night, probably staying over at Sakura’s place, so he doesn’t have anyone to voice his thoughts to until the next day when he goes in for work.  

He tells the rest of the crew about how his jerk of a flatmate spoiled the ending, and how touching it was that the boyfriend ended up becoming a cancer researcher.  

To which their only reaction of note is how Naruto didn’t know that the girl was going to die at the end.  “How did you not know that?”  “The novel’s been on the best-selling list all season!”

“I just didn’t know!”

When Hinata comes in for her rehearsal, he unthinkingly engages her in his venting.  “I finally watched _Picture Tomorrow_!” he informs her.

Her lips turn up slightly.  “Oh, did you like it?”

“Yes!  I hated it.”

“Oh…”

“It was so sad,” he bemoans.

“So...you didn’t like it?” she asks.

“No, it was great!  It was awful,” he clarifies for her.

It starts quietly, her giggle.  He watches her light grey eyes disappear into small slits under dark lashes, and he’s momentarily struck by the realization that he made her laugh.

“Your music was great, too,” he adds, and he suddenly finds himself much more taken with her smile than the drama.  She’s wearing make-up today.  And a dress.  “It completely tied together every scene, it was really nice.”

Her eyes, her entire expression, shines up at him.  “Thank you.  I’m glad you liked it.”

“Yeah...”  He works his hand into the back of his neck.  Right before the rehearsal starts would not be a good time to ask her out.  So, he redirects his thoughts to his work.  “Are you ready to get started?”

She nods, her shy gaze still focused on him, her cheeks still lightly pink from her laughter.

And he notes how she still looks happy as she follows him toward the stage.

 

He and the rest of the crew clap and give her cheers as she bows to the empty seats.  

She turns and looks at him, smiling a scrunched up, embarrassed and amused expression at their antics.

He grins at her, making sure to holler an extra loud “Wooh!”

Her mouth seems to drop open in surprise, her brows furrowing in confusion at his enthusiasm as she comes off the stage into the wings.  

“We won’t be able to cheer you on tomorrow night, so we gotta do it today,” he explains.  Tomorrow they’ll all be in work-mode.  Silent and invisible.  

“Oh,” she answers thoughtfully.  “Thank you.”

“Yeah!  Everything sounded great.  Looks like we’re ready for tomorrow!”  

She smiles in agreement and nods.  

He feels his weight tipping forward toward his toes, an antsiness that urges him to bounce on his feet.  Now’s the time, now’s the time.

His senior’s yell bursts through his thoughts.  “Hinata!  Before you go, I wanted to know if you’d sign this sheet music for my wife.  She teaches your songs to some of her piano students.”

She turns from him, her smile directed away.  “Oh, sure!”

Naruto lets out a silent sigh. 

He doesn’t get another moment alone with her, and he doesn’t want to subject himself or Hinata to the pressure of asking her out in front of everyone.

It’s only later that night when he’s leaving the theatre and walking to the bus stop that it occurs to him he could message her.  He has her number saved, at the time it was for “just in case” as her point person.  

Well, but asking her out in a message seems like a cop out.

He fiddles with his phone for a few seconds before opening a new thread.  

“Hey Hinata this is Naruto”  

He sends it before he can regret it.

He waits a minute.  

Nothing.

She might be one of those people who doesn’t obsessively check their phone’s notifications.

He starts typing again.  

“We’re all getting dinner around 4:30 tomorrow.  You’re welcome to join us before your warmup”  

He stares at his phone for a few seconds before pocketing it.  Based on her response, he might be able to gauge her interest in him.  If she responds.

His phone vibrates when he’s nearing his stop, and he’s relieved to see that it’s her as he exits the bus.

“Hello, Naruto, thank you :)  I’ll be there!”

A positive response.  A pretty normal, positive response.  

He doesn’t gauge anything from it, and now he has to figure out how to reply.  For anyone else, he would just “like” her reply.

But she’s not exactly just anyone, and he kind of wants her to notice him the way he’s noticing her.

“Great, see you tomorrow” 

He considers adding “have a good night,” quickly decides against it, and presses send. 

Her reply comes almost automatically.  “Yes, have a good night :)”

He frowns at his phone.  He should have just added it the first time.  Now is it weird to drag on the conversation?  Why didn’t she just say “see you tomorrow” in response?

Before he can take any longer thinking about it, he sends a short message.  

“You too”

He lets out a long breath.  

The last time he exchanged messages with a girl (that wasn’t a platonic friend) was three months ago.  That contact didn’t last past the first date, set up by Sakura.

They were incompatible.  Little attraction on both sides when it came to conversation.

It would be nice if he could have a relationship.  None of this waiting around, none of this feeling the other person out, none of this second-guessing every move, or just trying to make a move.  

He’s ready for more.

He's ready for someone to share some sweetness with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *"Picture Tomorrow" plot based off of the J-drama "1 Litre no Namida" / "1 Liter of Tears" and Aya Kito's diary
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	4. More than you could ever know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so excited for this. Finally, finally, finally.
> 
> Please enjoy the NaruHina fluff fluff!

The day of, she’s surprised to find that she’s not nervous.  She feels ready.  She could almost describe herself as feeling...excited?  Or is she misinterpreting the adrenaline running through her?  

Her gown, hanging in the closet of her dressing room backstage, glitters despite the dark fabric.

An expensive gift from her workaholic father.

Who’s actually taking a night off from the 10:00 newscast to attend her first solo concert.

He never attended her competitions after her first one due to his work schedule, and they both reasoned that he heard enough of her practicing at home for him to know exactly what she would sound like in the concert hall, and it wasn’t worth his time if she was just one among many players.

It was his expectation that she would win in those days.  

He hardly ever gave her anything beyond a “well done.”  No flowers, no hugs, no wide smiles.  Well, he was never an affectionate person, anyway.  She grew up lonely, simply hoping for his approval in everything she did.  And then, later, just trying to not be a bother or cause him worry of any kind.

She remembers she was stomach-achingly terrified to tell him that she wanted to stop competitions.

He had looked at her, attention fully on her, eyes narrowing, before asking, “Why?”

She could hardly get air to her lungs, but she hardened her resolve.  “I want to focus on composition,” she somehow managed to say with hardly a tremor in her voice.

He paused, nodded, said, “Alright,” and that was that.

Maybe she should have expected such simple support.  After all, the most she ever hears him speak is during his news reports.  And she realized…he never forced her to compete.  He never forced her to practice.  He just paid for the lessons.

She just felt those expectations.  Her father never actually said them.

She figured out during her year abroad in college that he expresses his care through working.  Providing.  Making money so that she can live comfortably and continue her passion.

She had always been grateful for everything he does, but once she framed it as his way of showing _love_ to her, she started emailing him with her college stories more often.

He replied to every single one.

And he asked that she send him recordings of all of her compositions, no matter how short it was.  She wondered if he missed hearing her play, though he never specifically said that.

So it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to her when he told her he wanted to attend her concert.

But it was really a huge surprise.

She fingers the silky fabric, heat coming to her eyes, a welling of emotion in her chest that she takes a deep breath through.  In a few hours, she’ll be wearing this gown and bowing before an audience.

The number of people doesn’t matter to her.  She would be happy with just an audience of her father.

“Hinata?”  Two knocks on her ajar door interrupt her musings.  “Your door’s open so I’m assuming--”

“Oh, yes!”  She swipes her eyes quickly, gathering her tears away.  “I’m ready to go.”

“Great!”  Naruto pokes his head through the door, then widens it for her to step through.  “We’re just going to one of our favorite cafes down the street.”

“Okay.”

She notices, again, his charming smile.  Today, too, he’s grinning at her in a way that makes her lips pull up, makes her wonder what he’s always smiling about.  She hopes he smiles like that later...when she gives him her thank you gift.

“How are you feeling for tonight?” he asks conversationally.

“Mmm…”  She feels emotional.  She feels readier than ever for a performance.  “I feel good.”

“Yeah?”

“My father is coming tonight.”

“Oh, that’s great!”

She nods, agreeing with his words more than he could possibly realize.

She feels great.

 

* * *

 

Despite everything he’s come to learn about her over the course of the week, he’s surprised.

On stage, in front of an audience just for her, she’s relaxed, at ease, focused...a picture of elegance.  Dressed in a figure-fitting midnight gown, she’s beyond stunning, like she was born to be on the stage in the spotlight.

Her form when she bows to the audience.  Her poise at the piano as she plays.  And then...her sound.

He heard her in the drama and on her website’s recordings.  Her heard her during her warm-ups and the parts she played at the rehearsal.

It’s not the same.

It’s no mystery to him at all how she won so many competitions.  How she got this opportunity through the drama.  Yes, talent.  Certainly, hard work.  But it takes more than knowing the instrument to make it on your own.

A musician’s charisma, an energy and emotion amplified before an audience.

Her sound touches and stirs his imagination, to the point he can clearly remember the same impact the drama had in certain scenes.  Or recall the stories she told him about the people she’s met and places she’s been to.

Even without the lighting he designed for tonight’s show, she would still be spectacular to see and listen to live.

He can see what every judge or observer noticed before him.  This girl is going places.  She’s in love with music, and music returns her love twice-fold.

Does she even have space for someone like him in her life?

 

* * *

 

She never much enjoyed speaking into a microphone, but after holding the entire audience captive for over an hour with her music, she doesn’t feel embarrassed.  She gives her little speech more easily than she predicted to thank everyone for coming, _Picture Tomorrow_ ’s production team and staff who are in attendance, her piano instructor, her father.

It was one of the best performances she’s ever given.

It amazes her that the night is nearly over.  She made it through without making a fool of herself.

And so many people helped her for a night like tonight.  So she takes a stabilizing breath and continues, “Finally, thank you to the HKT team--”  She extends an arm toward the booth in the house, then to her right, toward the workers off-stage, toward Naruto.  “--for helping me put together this show for tonight.  I have one last song, not listed on the program, that I composed this week to show my appreciation.  It’s called… ‘At home in your smile.’”

She gives a bow, then returns to her seat.

She easily finds the smooth keys, like gentle water beneath her touch.

She smiles, as she always does when she thinks of him.

The notes translate from her fingers into the afternoon breeze kissing laughing cheeks, rich trees throwing sun-spotted shadows on historic streets, an irreplaceable warmth she’ll remember forever in the rhythms of a familiar downtown charm, golden, blue, and hopeful beats.

It’s his song.

Filling the darkest, tallest corners of the theater.  Lively tones chasing each other playfully in a game of light, air, and saturated color.  His sound glowing against each person’s skin, mind, and heart.

Now everyone can know just a fraction of what she’s seen and felt since meeting him.  How she’s never met anyone so unguardedly cheerful.  So at ease in himself and with others, as if he has all of himself to give, none of himself to hold back.  He’s that one summer’s day so acute in youthful abandon--nothing could ever be so perfect, nothing will ever again be so perfect.

How he embodies a dream is one she could explore over and over again, let the music carry her through the complexities of his mind, let every chord delight in her contemplation.

It’s so easy for her soul to sing to him.

She’s written many songs inspired by people she has met in passing, yet she’s never gifted these secret melodies in the transitions of her life.

But for once it only felt right that he know.

And when the curtains are drawn, the lingering applause finally dies, and the murmurings of the audience rise and fall away, she knows that now is the time to tell him.

She nears the wings, and he starts clapping again, his refreshing smile wide and sincere, welcoming her.  “That was great, Hinata!  Really amazing!!  More incredible than the rehearsal, and that last song!  Wow!  I can’t believe you made that in a week!”

“Thank you--”  Her breath catches for a second, her sudden hesitation inexplicable.

A voice comes over his headset, his expression turning to business immediately as he answers.

The curtains of the wings on the opposite side are pulling up, and men are already starting to push the piano off-stage.

She quickly realizes that he’s still working.

He’s busy.

And whatever she was planning on saying, whatever it was she wanted to say, doesn’t have a place right now.

She can feel the adrenaline of the show swiftly beginning to drain from her body, embarrassment shifting into the place where confidence once stood.

What was it she wanted to say, anyway?

And what response was she hoping for from him?

She doesn’t even know him that well!

He just knows a lot _about her_ , she shared so much about herself because he asked so many questions during their meeting, and did that all go to her head?  The connection she feels with him must be one-sided...to him...she’s just another performer he’s working with…

She heads toward the doors to backstage, hoping to make a quick escape from her near-mistake.

“Hinata!  Wait!”

She pauses, one hand on the door.

“The strike will be really fast.”  He gestures behind him, where the main curtains are pulling up, revealing an empty house and a bare stage.  “We only have to take the lights down, and uh.  I have something to give you after, so before you leave, well, even if we’re not done yet, can you come back?”

She blinks at him.  _Something to give me?_   Flowers?  A card?  Or just something she accidentally forgot on a previous day?

“You can just call out at me if I don’t notice right away,” he adds, an uncertain look beginning to pinch on his face.  “It won’t take long if..uh..your dad’s waiting for you?...”

She nods quickly, hoping to ease his misgivings.  “I’ll come back.  And my father will meet me at home.”

His smile is a lot smaller than his usual, his jaw working like he’s processing a secret, then turns around to help the rest of the crew.

She hurries back to her dressing room.  And as she changes her clothes, she can’t help feeling a slight constriction in her chest, a slight sickness in her gut.

But it’s not unpleasant.

It’s too giddy.

She doesn’t want to hope for anything.  She doesn’t want to lead herself on.  It might really be nothing.  Or even if it is flowers, maybe he does that for all the performers.  Maybe it’s a HKT tradition among the crew to gift the performer a little something.

She gathers her things, trying to steady the race of her heart.

She opens her door--

He’s standing right there, leaning against the wall.

Her heart spasms with surprise.

“Sorry, did I scare you?”  He straightens.

She’s panting from the shock.

“Sorry,” he says again, but he looks like he wants to laugh.

He’s holding a bouquet of bright orange roses.

She blinks at it, trying to compose herself.  Could that be for her?  But maybe it’s not for her, it could be for someone else--who else would it be for, though?  It must be for her... “...Are you guys done already?”

“Oh, no, but, it’s okay.”  He lifts up the bouquet.  “This is for you.”

She stares for a second before taking it.  _This is really for me?_   Well, of course it is.  “Wow,” she breathes.  “Thank you.”

He’s standing there, still, just smiling.

She doesn’t know what to say.  She can only smile back. “...Orange roses.”

“Haha, yeah,” he laughs, his eyes drifting away as if he’s embarrassed by a memory.  “I know it’s weird, maybe I should’ve just gone with the red?  I would’ve gotten pink, but there weren’t any, but with the red roses, I didn’t want to come off as...yeah.”  He abruptly stops himself there, suddenly staring straight at her.  “...Would you--”

“Oh no I--”  She realizes she spoke at the same time as him.

He shakes his head, biting his lips.  “Go on.”

“Ah, sorry.”  She doesn’t want to make this any more awkward, so she continues, “I just wanted to tell you that I love them.  I’ve never gotten orange roses before.  They’re beautiful.”

He smiles, significantly happier than before.

“And…”  She takes a deep breath.  She can’t believe she’s about to tell him this, but he really deserves to know.  “You know that last song I played tonight?”

He nods.

“It was inspired by you,” she murmurs, only just loud enough for him to hear.

She watches his face morph--his blue eyes widen, his pleased smile shift into confusion.  “Uhh, that last song not on the program?”

She nods.

“You wrote it about me?”  He points to his chest as if he needs to make sure.

She nods again, nerves making her bounce on her toes a bit.  “I am really glad to have met you,” she starts, finding self-assurance in the truth of it.  “I loved coming here and working with...with you and seeing your smile.  Your smile brightens even the darkest theater.”

His jaw drops slightly, red visibly tinging his cheeks.  His expression bursts into a grin, which he quickly covers with his hand, seemingly now self-conscious to show her the subject of her composition.

She really can’t help smiling just as goofily as him.

“Ahh!” he strongly exclaims, his arms falling wide open, hands stretched out before clenching tightly shut.

She jumps, only to quickly see that he’s still just as happy as before.

“Aw man, Hinata!"

The juxtaposition of his words and expressions confuse her, but she loves that about him, too.  "...Naruto-kun?"

His grin softens.  "Go on a date with me!”  He gazes earnestly at her.  “Will you go on a date with me?”

She nods, a blush of her own overtaking her cheeks.  “Mhm, I'd like that.”

He sighs, as if letting go of a huge weight.  “Great!” He’s smiling at her, wide, unguarded, pure.  “That’s great.”

She nods.  It really is.  She’s already looking forward to it.  More than he could possibly know.

“Monday.  Lunch?  Is that okay?”

“Mhm.”

“Can I call you?”

“Uh-huh,” she affirms again, still soaking in his smile, still helplessly smiling back.

“Can I walk you out?”

“Mhm.”

“I’ll call you to sort out details.  I can’t wait for Monday,” he shamelessly adds.

“Me, too.”

He stops at the doorway to outside, gazing at her.

Before she can second-guess herself, she tiptoes, planting a quick kiss on his cheek.  “Thank you for the roses.  Thank you for everything.”  She steps back, reveling in his awed silence, gratified by his look of bliss, and then reluctantly waves good-bye.

He stands at the entrance, watching her go, until she turns the corner and can’t see him anymore.

He’s sweet.  The sweetest guy she’s ever met.

And already she can hear a new, bubbling melodic tune in her heart.  Only the second one of many more she’s certain she’ll tenderly grow in her wonder of his everything, in her efforts to capture each shared moment more perfect than the last.

No matter how their date will end, she knows she’s found someone special.

He’s going to change her, irreparably, certainly.

But she thinks…

She wants to be that person.  She’ll be more herself than ever before.

She really can’t wait. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3
> 
> Thank you to shamy for letting me run away a little with her fanart and idea! I just loved this so much!
> 
> I asked my husband if he has ever been backstage, and he said no, he doesn't have a clue of what it looks like.  
> So some notes for anyone unfamiliar with theatre terms:  
> \- the "wings" are the series of curtains that obscure the audience's eyes to seeing backstage. They also divide the stage into markers for actors/dancers to line up for their entrances without being seen.  
> \- a "strike" is when the crew removes all sets/props/backdrops/lighting/curtains from the stage and moves them into proper storage.  
> \- the "house" is basically where the audience sits.  
> \- since Hinata is the only performer, her dressing room would be the first one right outside of backstage, really close to all entrances and exits (might also sometimes be called a "green room"). When Naruto offers to walk her out, they're literally like, about ten paces from the door.
> 
> This is only my 3rd multi-chapter fic I've ever finished >< That's really sad, but I'm super proud of myself haha.
> 
> Thank you for reading this simple love story!


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